Frick board approves design for $160m extension

Plus: Jean-Luc Martinez signs on for further three-year term at Louvre | Theaster Gates named inaugural visiting artist at Maine’s Lunder Institute | Brooklyn Museum under fire over hiring of white curator of African art | Three new professorships announced at future Documenta Institute | and Suad Garayeva-Maleki appointed artistic director of Yarat

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Frick Collection board approves new design for $160 million extension | The Frick Collection’s board of trustees has voted to approve plans for a major extension designed by Annabelle Selldorf of Selldorf Architects. The $160 million project represents the first major upgrade to the museum’s facilities since 1935, and will provide it with amenities including an education centre and auditorium, improved access for disabled visitors, updated conservation laboratories, and new exhibition spaces that will increase the Frick’s display capacity by around 30 per cent. The project is expected to break ground in 2020.

Jean-Luc Martinez signs on for further three-year term at Louvre | France’s culture ministry has extended Jean-Luc Martinez’s contract as director of the Louvre for a further three-year term, reports Le Figaro (French language article). Martinez, who has led the museum since 2013, has overseen several major projects both at the institution itself and elsewhere, having presided over the launch of the Louvre Abu Dhabi in 2017.

Theaster Gates named inaugural visiting artist at Maine’s Lunder Institute | TheColby College in Waterville, Maine has appointed Theaster Gates as director of artist initiatives and inaugural distinguished visiting artist at the new Lunder Institute for American Art at the Colby Museum of Art. Gates’s three-year appointment at the research centre will culminate in a major retrospective at the Colby Museum of Art in 2021.

Brooklyn Museum under fire over hiring of white curator of African art | The Brooklyn Museum has come under fire over its decision to hire Kristen Windmuller-Luna, who is white, as its consulting curator for African art. According to ArtNews, a number of groups and individuals have criticised the appointment, with an activist group known as ‘Decolonize this Place’ stating that it ‘reflects deeper structural flaws within [the] museum’s culture’.

Three new professorships announced at future Documenta Institute | The state of Hesse is to finance three new professorships devoted to the history and significance of the quinquennial Documenta exhibition based in the city of Kassel. According to the Art Newspaper, the state has set aside €180,000 for the positions this year, with a further €360,000 earmarked for 2019. The professorships will contribute to the research conducted by a planned Documenta Institute, to be built north of Kassel.

Suad Garayeva-Maleki appointed artistic director of Yarat in Azerbaijan | Yarat, a contemporary art centre in Baku, Azerbaijan has appointed Suad Garayeva-Maleki as its new artistic director. Garayeva-Maleki has served at the organisation as chief curator since 2014, working with artists including Goshka Makuga, Oscar Murillo and Hannah Black.